Don't leave me alone to my thoughts
by AgentMorganB-006
Summary: After tragedy leaves Peter lonely, Tony steps up to do whatever it takes to bring his kid home.
1. Peter just wants his Mr Stark

**Updated 6/28/2018**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned then Tony would be officially tagged Dad.**

* * *

Numb, the buzz the that signaled the void of nothingness. He felt completely empty.

It felt a little cold too, but that was all Peter could register at the moment. Actually, that was all he had felt since the initial panic and adrenaline wore off about an hour ago. At least, Peter thought it had been an hour. If he were an outsider in this situation trying to set his watch, he certainly wouldn't set it by any time that Peter guessed. Wouldn't even trust Peter to give the approximate time of day. It certainly felt like an eternity had gone by since the ambulance ride over to the hospital. An eternity since he was told there was nothing the doctors could do. Nothing _Peter_ could do.

Aunt May was gone, passed away peacefully in her sleep, or so he was told. How can someone pass on peacefully and leave such emotional destruction and chaos in the wake of their death?

He was currently sitting in one of the private offices at the hospital where they had attempted to restart May's heart, but it had been too late. _Far too late_. Did Peter really think that a rushed ride to a building full of dying people would revive a person that was so closely connected to Peter Parker, the epicenter for the mothership of all Parker Luck?

His last living relative was _dead_. He was completely alone.

At least it felt like that to Peter. In reality, several people had come and gone from the room since he'd been placed in it. The doctor, one or two nurses coming to check up on him ( _No, I don't want to talk about it with a stranger. Thanks for the offer_ ), and the most recent addition to the otherwise empty room, a woman from child's services. The woman had probably introduced herself upon entering the room, but Peter honestly couldn't even remember when she had arrived. There wasn't much chance that Peter was going to remember what the social worker had said to him, let alone the lady's name. The only thing he vaguely remembers her asking if there was anyone she could call someone for him, "a relative or close family friend, anyone that you can think of that you want to come help you?"

While he couldn't bring himself to answer the woman verbally, he had somehow forced himself to pull his phone out of his pocket to do as she suggested. Peter wordlessly dialed the only living person that he knew he wanted, who he needed at that exact moment. Putting the speaker up to his ear, he waited silently as it rang. He only heard the dial tone twice before the other side of the line was answered.

"Hey Underoos! What's up?" the up-beat voice of his mentor sounded through the phone. "I thought you had geek group today." He sounded distracted. Peter noted absentmindedly that he must be working on something. ( _I'm always interrupting his life_ ). "I mean, I don't blame you for ditching; it sounded boring to me too."

And with the familiar voice of his father-figure, the dam burst. At first Peter let the tears fall silently while he tried to take in enough air to talk to his mentor. ( _Hey Mr. Stark! Sorry to bother you, but my Aunt May died, so I'm kind of alone and now I'm going to be barging in on your life even more than I have already and **I'm so so sorry Mr. Stark**_ ) Only a strangled noise made it past his lips.

"Whoa, kiddo!" Tony sounded on the verge of panic, but Peter could still hear the strained smile he was trying to plaster on ( _Tony doesn't need this right now_ ). "If you really want to be a social outcast, that is completely your decision, and I'll completely support you," Mr. Stark teased, trying to diffuse whatever was making Peter cry ( _he doesn't need a crying teen. I'm so sorry Mr. Stark_ ). "Will I make fun of you for it? Of course, but support will be mixed in there somewhere." Tony chuckled uncomfortably, obviously not sure what was going on with his " _intern_."

Peter couldn't stop himself from sobbing. Loud and uncontrollable sobs left him as he was no longer able to keep his feelings bottled up inside. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, I'm so so sorry. I-I can't—I-I n-need— _Please, Mr. Stark, I c-can't_."

"Peter! What's wrong, buddy? Are you hurt?" and now Mr. Stark was full out panicking, no longer putting in the effort to hide his concern. "Pete, I need you to answer me kiddo!"

"Co-come, come— n-n-need ne-ed come, p-please?" He tried to get out what he wanted, _needed_ from his mentor, but it sounded more like gasping and choking even to Peter's ears.

Through his tears, Peter was able to make out the blurry picture of the social worker holding out her hand and gently coaxing him to give her the device. If he had been a little more coherent, he might have felt insulted by the obvious babying, but considering the situation, he actually appreciated the kid gloves even if he barely recognized them for what they were.

Handing over the phone, Peter could still make out some of Tony's hysterics over the line. Peter didn't really pay attention though after the woman's initial, "I'm going to need you to calm down a minute, sir…" as he found he was a little preoccupied with the task of breathing. ( _Why am I always such a problem for Mr. Stark? I should call him back and tell him to go back to his work. **But I really need to see him**. Why do I feel the need to drag him into this?)_He tried to calm his breathing by pulling his knees up to his chest which seemed to help if only because he now had somewhere to rest his head which felt stuffy and weighed down.

Peter wasn't even sure how much time had passed with him sitting there, body trembling as he cried, before there was suddenly a pair of calloused hands resting on his shoulders. He couldn't help but violently flinch back at the unexpected touch.

"Hey, hey kiddo, it's okay. Kiddo it's just me, it's just Tony," Mr. Stark said in a calming whisper.

With the blurry confirmation that Mr. Stark really was kneeling in front of him, Peter rushed into his arms.

"Don't leave me please... Please, stay… Don't leave, _please don't leave me_ ," Peter begged over and over as Tony brushed a soothing hand through his hair.

Peter felt better and worse all at the same time being in the arms of someone he loved. Better because he knew he still had someone. He knew that Tony was here and that he cared. Better because he could share his hurt with someone who would understand, with someone who knew every aspect of his life.

But it was also worse. Mr. Stark had his own life; he didn't need Peter's problems. Peter didn't want to lose Tony to his dumb Parker luck too. What was the alternative though? Mr. Stark leaving him alone. It was all too much to take in.

Peter knew one thing for sure: May was gone and Tony was here. Tony would hold him together while everything else fell apart. For that, Peter was thankful. Grateful that Tony wouldn't tell him that everything was okay, wouldn't shush him to stop the tears. So Peter cried while Tony was simply there, rubbing comforting patterns into his back.

* * *

 **Hey, guys! Sorry for disappearing for almost two months (I had a family emergency). I know I promised a new chapter but I think you'll like this better.**

 **Big shout out to lilyblaney for all her help! You guys would not be getting this as soon if it wasn't for her help.**

 **BTW: Go check out her story "Pyotr, Petya, Peter" especially if you are a Black Widow fan. She actually has full blown chapters (unlike my short pieces of fluff and angst)**

 **Important: In this Peter is 15 like in Homecoming, but May is older like in the original films.**

 **Please review**


	2. What's a good metaphor for Tony

**Updated: 10/5/18**

* * *

Tony was so out of his depth here.

Coming to the rescue of his sort of intern was not on his itinerary. How do you handle a child that just had their entire world shattered? Tony sure didn't know! No one ever showed him when he had to pick up the millions of pieces of his life and glue it back together about a hundred times.

He did know that you do not use Elmer's. Been there, done that, it may have been an emergency the one time, But Never Again! Duct tape might work… But what was the metaphoric Duct tape for a mourning child? Because It wasn't Tony Stark, former-playboy still-billionaire philosophist. That was for sure! Maybe he could be the metaphoric mechanic that finds the tape. He thinks he could handle that after all, Tony is a real, genius, mechanic.

For now he just had to keep a handle of his panic and take care of the heartbroken boy in his arms. He had so far managed to calm Peter down from hysterical sobbing to a much calmer whimpering, so at least he had that going for him. All though, now that it was quieter Tony noticed there was another presence in the room.

Looking up at the woman he realized that she was probably the person he spoke to on the phone. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say...

"So who talks first? Do you talk first, I talk first?"

The woman didn't look amused, just really sad and resigned "Mr. Stark, I'm Mabel Robinson." She spoke professionally. "We spoke on the phone earlier."

"I would say it's nice to meet you, but I could think of nicer ways." Tony probably could have said that a little less bitterly. It's not like any of this was the social worker's fault, but no one ever said that Tony Stark ever knew how to deal with people (or emotions) very well.

"Mr. Stark, are you aware that Peter has no other living relatives, and furthermore that May Parker never filed a will?"

What on earth May? You didn't think to file a will for your _**minor**_ nephew whom you had legal _**guardianship**_ over? If the kid can lose both parents and an uncle didn't you realise he could certainly lose you too?

Honestly! It was a sad day when Tony knew what was the proper procedure with a child over anyone else, especially someone who was actually in charge of taking care of said child.

"What exactly does that mean for Peter?"

Tony couldn't help but tightening his hold on the teen in his arms. Only a little though, he didn't want to scare Peter or show the social worker how scared he actually was about this situation. If the way the woman's face (her name was Robin, right?) softened showed anything she had noticed.

"That really depends on what _**you**_ are willing to do here, Mr. Stark." And if that didn't hit him as unexpected. What exactly was he supposed to take from that statement?

"What do you mean?"

"Do you care for Peter, Mr. Stark?"

What kind of question was that? Who exactly did this woman think she was? Of course Tony… cared for Peter. Wow, way too much emotional confrontation in this conversation.

"I don't make a habit of letting just _anyone_ use me as a human tissue." He commented dryly.

He probably should have just said "yes" because Peter started to whine and pull away, wiping his hands on Tony's shirt in a way that he thinks was supposed to help clean it.

"You're ruining the nice green color you added to my shirt, knock it off."

Tony lightly smacked away Peters' hands and pulled him back into his original position.

Looking back to Robin, he could see she was trying to hide a smile, as it was she was simply smirking and laughter shined in her eyes. It was repulsing really.

"I hate to interrupt the touching moment, but in all seriousness Mr. Stark. Peter is going to be put into the system…"

Even though it was blatantly obvious that Peter had mostly checked out of reality for the moment he must have heard that from the way he tensed up.

"Hold up! You can not, _**will**_ not dump _**my kid**_ with a bunch of strangers!"

And if he wasn't busy concentrating on the moment, Tony might have facepalmed at the total paternal-ness of that statement.

"Mr. Stark, if you would like to officially step in and take custody of Peter… I would support you one-hundred percent. However, _there is_ a legal process we must follow."

"Care to explain Robin? Because, holy legal system Batman! I have no idea what you're talking about. Can't I just give the courts an autograph and take the kid home?"

"My name is Mabel _Robinson_ , Mr. Stark, and unfortunately because you have such an… interesting history the courts are going to require a few things from you before you can take a child into custody."

Was the pause really necessary? And what does she mean by interesting? She might as well go out and say what she's actually thinking… scandalous. Tony's heard that word enough to know that is exactly what everyone thought of his past (sometimes present) lifestyle.

"For closer's sake, care to explain?"

"... Mr. Stark, I wish I could say it was as simple as a signature and moving the boy in, but this is out of my hands."

She looked genuinely saddened about it too.

And Tony wished she would stop saying Mr. Stark to begin her sentences. It was starting to grate on his nerves.

Before Tony could voice his opinions aloud, two officers entered the room.

* * *

 **I'm back... I won't give any excuses, just know I had good reason.**

 **This is unbetaed because I am fairly sure I scared off both of my sorta betas with my prolonged absence...**

 **Check out my Tumblr agentmorganb-006**

 **Suggestions and constructive criticism welcome.**

 **Please review!**


End file.
